220 THE ESCULENT SWALLOW. 



THE ESCULENT SWALLOW. 



The Esculent Swallow is somewhat smaller than the "Wren. Its bill 

 is thick. The upper parts of the body are brown, and the under 

 parts whitish. The tail is forked; and each feather is tipped with 

 white. The legs are brown. 



The nest of this bird is exceedingly curious, and is composed of 

 such materials, that it is not only edible, but is accounted by the 

 epicures of Asia, among their greatest dainties. It generally weighs 

 about half an ounce ; and is, in shape, like a half-lemon, or, as some 

 say, like a saucer with one side Hatted, which adheres to the rock. 

 The texture somewhat resembles isinglass, or fine gum-dragon: and 

 the several layers of the component matter are very apparent; it be- 

 ing fabricated from repeated parcels of a soft, slimy substance, in 

 the same manner as the Martins form their nests of mud. Authors 

 differ much as to the materials of which this nest is composed : some 

 suppose it to consist of sea-worms, of the Mollusca class ; others 

 from the sea-qualm, (a kind of Cuttle-fish,) or a glutinous sea-plant, 

 called agal-agal. It has also been supposed that the Swallows rub 

 other birds of their eggs, and, after breaking their shells, apply the 

 white of them in the composition of these structures. 



The best sort of nests, which are perfectly free from dirt are dis- 

 solved in broth, in order to thicken it ; and are said to give it an 

 exquisite flavor. Or they are soaked in water, to soften them ; then 

 pulled to pieces ; and, after being mixed with ginseng, are put into thu 

 body of a fowl. The whole is afterwards stewed in a pot, with a suf- 

 ficient quantity of water, and left on the coals all night. On the 

 following morning it is in a state to be eaten. 



These nests are found in vast numbers in certain caverns of islands 

 in the Soolo Archipelago. The best kind sell in China at from one 

 thousand to fifteen hundred dollars the picle ; (about twenty-five 

 pounds ; ) the black and dirty ones for only twenty dollars. It is said 

 that the Dutch alone export from Batavia one thousand picks of these 

 nests every year : they are brought from the islands of Cochin-China 

 and those lying east of them. 



The following is the account given of the nests of the Esculent 

 Swallow by Sir George Staunton : "In the Cass (a small island near 

 Sumatra) were found two caverns, running horizontally into tho 

 side of the rock; and in these were a number of those bird-nests so 

 much prized by the Chinese epicures. They seem to be composed of 

 fine filaments, cemented together by a transparent viscous matter, not 

 unlike what is left by the foam of the sea upon stones alternately cov- 

 ered by the tide, or those gelatinous animal substances that are found 

 floating on every coast. The nests adhere to each other, and to the 

 sides of the cavern ; mostly in rows, without any break or interruption. 

 The birds that build these nests are small gray Swallows, with bellies of 

 a dirty white color. They were flying about in considerable numbers; 

 but were so small, and their flight was so quick, that they escaped the 



